‘Yes, you can!’
Dick and Rick Hoyt

In 1977, after Rick Hoyt, a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, asked his dad to push him in a local 5-mile race to benefit a paralyzed classmate, he told his father – through the aid of a computer – “Dad, when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore.”

Dick Hoyt subsequently pushed his son through 32 Boston Marathons and numerous other endurance events, including no fewer than four Ironman Triathlons in Hawaii. In 1989 they founded the Hoyt Foundation to help children with disabilities participate in sports, and Dick traveled the world raising awareness about disability inclusion. Team Hoyt became a Boston Marathon icon and a global marathon legend.

To recognize their achievements and contributions to marathoning and inclusion, John Hancock Financial commissioned artist Mike Tabor to create the life-sized sculpture, entitled ‘Yes, you can!’. The statue was completed in early 2013 and gifted by John Hancock to the town of Hopkinton, where it is installed on the front lawn of Hopkinton’s Center School.

The 26.2 Foundation was instrumental in securing the location of the statue, which sits literally yards from the Boston Marathon starting line.